


The Way I See You

by wordsareleftbehind (froggydarren)



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 21:36:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/wordsareleftbehind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr anon prompt: When Darren sees 'the ugly half of a power couple' quote he needs to make Chris feel beautiful.<br/><i>“I…thought it’d be nice not being the ugly half of a power couple for a while.”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way I See You

Darren has the site pulled up on his laptop when Chris walks in the door and he looks up, a shadow across his eyes, tears on the verge of falling. He read the sentence so many times now and it doesn't hurt any less to see and know that Chris might still be feeling that way. It's not the truth objectively and he knows it, not just because he'd be self-deprecating himself, but because he _sees_ Chris. And he knows how the world sees Chris, but it's not, very obviously as the quote shows, how Chris sees himself.

"Chris?" Darren gets his attention and tries to hide his worry with little success.

"What's wrong, Darren?" Chris sits down and keeps his eyes on Darren.

"Did you say this?" Darren points to the screen.

"Yeah," Chris answers quietly after reading the line, not wanting to relive the interview and the emotions that ran through him when he did it.

"Chris…"

Darren's voice fades as he puts the laptop away and rests his hand on Chris' thigh gently. He knows that trying to talk to Chris is not going to help, because he's done that, talked until he was blue in the face, until he couldn't find any more words besides "you're beautiful, you're amazing, you're Christopher Colfer, you're _not_ how you see yourself".

On a whim, kind of, but not really, because the thought had crossed his mind before, he stands up, grabs Chris' hand and marches both of them into his bedroom.

"Darren?" Chris looks at him with a puzzled expression, "Dare what are you up to?"

"Ssshhh… listen, just listen, OK?"

Chris nods and lets Darren stand him in front of the full-length mirror in the corner. He's come straight from set, only just managed to change into sweatpants and a hoodie, out of his Kurt clothes. He always feels better about his looks when he's Kurt, but the nagging thought that it's just make-up and that it's not really him is something he was never able to shake off.  He meets Darren's determined eyes in the mirror and wonders what this all is about.

For a moment, they just look at each other through the reflection and Darren's hands rest on Chris' shoulders, thumbs softly stroking the warm skin just below Chris' neck.

"I want to show you, OK?" Darren asks.

Chris doesn't nod, doesn't say anything back because he still doesn't know why Darren is doing whatever it is he's doing. But there's a feeling in the pit of his stomach that makes him nervous, more nervous than he'd normally be around his best friend. He has a little déjà vu moment that sends him back to when Darren started on the show and when Chris had a momentary, only lasting for a week or so, crush of epic proportions. He got over it the moment his brain registered the facts that were stacked against them and hasn't looked back since, despite the speculations from not only their co-stars but, well, everyone. The way Darren is looking at him now, though, shakes Chris to his core.

"I'm not going to ask you how you see yourself," Darren states, "I know that. And I know I can't talk you out of it, because God knows I've tried. But I can show you how I see you."

Chris keeps his eyes locked with Darren's in the mirror, his subconscious screaming at him to not listen, repeating all the lines that had been thrown at him through the years. But this is Darren, the one person who does _not_ lie to him, so Chris tries to just breathe and listen.

Darren's hands move from Chris' shoulders to his jaw and then slide up to Chris' hair. It's messy a little, the product from the set washed out after the shower Chris had taken when he wrapped filming. It's mostly dry now and Chris didn't have time to do anything about it, because he just wanted to get somewhere comfortable.

"Your hair is magic," Darren grins, "I wish mine was more like that, it's so much easier to tame."

Chris chuckles at this because he's seen Darren's hair on several particularly bad days.

"I liked it a little bit longer, though, with the highlights," Darren tugs on the front part, "much as I think it doesn't need improvement. Well, maybe a little combing wouldn't hurt," he laughs and accepts the small glare from Chris.

"I like this," Darren continues, running his finger over the crease above Chris' eyes, "the lines here when you frown. I hate to see you frowning, but they're also there when you think and that's…" Darren stills and gulps, looking like something just hit him at full speed, "when you get lost in your thoughts and when I know your brain is up to yet another one of your genius things, it's so sexy."

Chris shudders at the words, almost imperceptibly.

"Oh come on, like you don't know intelligence is a turn on," Darren grins a little, "and you, my friend, have that in spades."

There's a moment of silence and Chris doesn't quite know what to say. Darren has _just_ called him sexy, but there was also the _friend_ word.

"It shows in your eyes, too," Darren continues, "I can see you thinking sometimes, when you drift off and stare into space, thinking of the new character, or a new plot line or when you analyze the script we've been given. The thoughts reflect in your eyes and did you know their colour changes then? They're darker, maybe only a shade, but there is a difference and sometimes I just watch out for the change."

Darren's face tints with a colour a little darker than usual and it's one of the very rare times that he's blushing. Chris wonders for a second about the reason for it, but his musings are interrupted by Darren's voice again.

"See, like this," the voice is right in Chris' ear, "stop thinking, Chris, just listen this time, OK?"

Chris nods a little, eyes still locked with Darren's, and he's not about to admit that he wasn't thinking of arguing about Darren's words. That he almost got caught thinking of how Darren's blush would look in a completely different situation and I _really need to stop getting carried away in that direction. I have not done it in so long, why am I suddenly thinking of Darren that way?_

"Oh," Darren sucks in a breath and his finger is on Chris' lip, smoothing over it because Chris has just bitten down on it hard, "don't do that," Darren mutters, "don't hurt yourself, Chris."

"I'm not…" Chris manages to say back, his bottom lip tingling from the combination of his teeth and Darren's touch.

"You have insanely kissable lips, Christopher, don't ruin them."

"I… what?" Chris' eyes fly wide open.

"You do," Darren runs his finger back over the bottom lip, "I should know, I've kissed them plenty," he chuckles, "soft, pliant, warm… and you definitely know what to do with them."

Chris' eyes are now almost falling out of the sockets and _oh god this is escalating very quickly_. He feels Darren's fingers trace of the line of his jaw and the shivers continue running down his spine.

"I don't know what you bribed puberty with, Colfer," Darren sighs, "but you need to share the wisdom. It's too late for me, obviously, but kids need to know you're not magic. Well, you are, but…"

Darren lets his voice fade, but his fingers continue moving and when he drags them from Chris' chin to his ear, Chris could swear there are genuine sparks flying. He smiles at Darren's stumbling over his words, trying to distract himself from the sensation of the touches.

"Ah, there it is," Darren grins, "dimples, man, that's just not fair."

Chris lifts an eyebrow at Darren's somewhat frustrated expression.

"What? It's adorable!" Darren huffs, "it's like _the_ cute thing. I've always wanted them, but DNA is a bitch."

The words combined with the genuinely put out look in Darren's face make Chris laugh a little, which in turn makes Darren glare.

"Not fair. Like you're not already gorgeous," Darren sighs, "you have to go and be adorable too."

Darren's fingers slide down the side of Chris' neck and Chris bites back a moan this time. There's a spot that Darren has just brushed over, not knowing exactly _what_ it does. Suddenly, Chris is glad that he's wearing the hoodie, despite its frumpiness, because it's long and hides things.

"This," Darren slides back up Chris' neck only just missing that spot this time, "this is so kissable. You've a neck that's made for biting and kissing and… well, I think I've proven that back during _the_ car scene."

Chris' breathing is speeding up with every word and now Darren has made him remember the make-out scene a year ago, the one he walked away from with a hickey because of Darren's lack of restraint. The same one where he'd not quite managed to hide an unplanned boner during the very same take that left him with the mark. They'd brushed it off then as having been too much into the characters, though Chris knew it wasn't the case for him. And now he's wondering how much of that was Darren's method acting and how much was _Darren_.

"I know you hate this," Darren swipes a finger over Chris' scar, "but it's not a flaw, it's a battle scar to me. From a battle that you've won."

Chris shivers again when Darren's hand sinks lower and _oh_ hits that spot again. He struggles to hold back the moan that's threatening to escape again, but grounds himself by looking at his reflection in the mirror. Darren smiles and Chris can feel and see Darren resting his chin on the shoulder that his fingers just brushed across. He sees the sleeves of his hoodie shifting under Darren's hand as it slides down the length of Chris' arm.

"You've been working out, Colfer," Darren grins, "don’t think no one notices that your arms have gotten bulked up."

Darren reaches Chris' wrists and tugs on the sleeves, then reaches for the front of the hoodie and starts pulling it up. Chris scrunches his eyes, but Darren mumbles something that sounds like "Oh, shush" and Chris gives in, letting him pull the hoodie off.

"Your undershirts are Enemy Number One," Darren laughs, remembering comments from fans online, "did you know that?"

Chris shakes his head in disbelief.

"Seriously, you _need_ to one day look up just how many people would kill for a topless photo shoot of you," Darren grins, "and they're not kidding either. Not that I can blame them."

There's a sound coming out of Chris' mouth that's a mix of a gasp and a snort, because he's not quite sure whether it's the shock at Darren's statement or his standard "Ha, sure" response to it that is stronger. Then he catches Darren's look and it's kind of like when he's Blaine and he looks at Kurt like he hung the moon and the stars in the sky. But this is Darren, not in character, with no scripted lines or directions, and he is looking at Chris and _oh shit_ his hands are tugging at the edges of Chris' undershirt, sneaking underneath.

It's only around the neckline, but Chris feels the shivers, despite the warmth of Darren's fingers. And then the hand moves and Darren is sliding it along the ridges of the undershirt down to the bottom. Chris' back is flush against Darren's chest and the warmth is now radiating off both of them.

"Can I?" Darren asks cautiously, tugging on the bottom of the fabric covering Chris' torso.

"Y-yes?"

It's more a question than an answer, but Darren takes it, pulling on the undershirt and tossing it to the side once it's off, which makes him pull away from Chris a little. He immediately moves back, chin on Chris' shoulder, hands on the pale wrists hanging by their sides.

"Keep your eyes open," Darren mutters into Chris' ear when he notices his gaze slipping down, "I'm not finished."

Chris' eyes fly back up to the mirror and he notices his flushed cheeks, then Darren's with a matching colour and he almost gasps. Darren's hand is splayed over his bared ribcage, just above his navel and the difference in skin tone is almost shocking.

"You really should not be afraid to show your skin, Christopher," Darren's voice is low, lower than Chris is used to, "Just seeing it, so pale, so smooth, people would scramble to find out if it's as soft as it looks."

He caresses the lines of Chris' abs, brushing against the skin in short strokes, stopping at the edge of the sweatpants and pushing against it with a little less hesitation every time.

"I wanted to know."

Chris can't find his voice, so he just lifts an eyebrow at Darren instead, meeting the pair of eyes, their colour darker than he's used to.

"Your skin," Darren exhales, "I wanted to know if it's as soft everywhere as where I could touch before."

That sends Chris' thoughts and emotions into a spin, because _wow_ that's not what he was expecting. And Darren is still looking at him in the mirror, both hands around Chris' waist now, breath warm on his neck.

"Look at yourself, Chris," Darren continues, "you're beautiful. You make people turn when you walk past, you make them stop and stare in wonder."

Darren's hands slip down to the elastic of the sweats and Chris almost stops him, but he's frozen in shock. The eyes looking all over his body are filled with something he's not seen in Darren's expression before. It's hunger, it's want, it's lust. And he can't quite process how it's possible and how this is happening. So, despite the fact that he knows the layer of soft fabric is the last thing to hide what Darren's touch has been doing to him for a while, he can't bring himself to stop Darren from pulling the sweats down.

They pool down at Chris' legs and he doesn't move to kick off his shoes or the pants. The only thing separating him from complete nakedness is a pair of boxer-briefs that are not hiding anything at all. He hears and feels Darren gulp when his eyes travel down, noticing the bulge in the underwear.

"Your legs are longer than should be allowed," Darren deflects from the obvious, his fingers on Chris' thighs, "I suppose it comes with the height, damn you, but I know _women_ who claimed to want your legs, weird as it is. So long, so toned, so ridiculously _long_."

"Darren," Chris whispers, his voice hoarse, shaky, "I…"

"And then…" Darren keeps talking, like he didn't hear Chris at all, "then there are your hips," he brings his fingers up to Chris' waist, eyes following their movement, "and damn, the way you can move them…"

Chris is wondering whether this whole thing Darren is doing is still about what it originally started as, but he doesn’t quite care. The tent of his underwear is now dangerously stretching the fabric and his thoughts have long gone beyond the carefully built up self-control. Then he feels Darren's body move that tiny bit closer, bridge the gap that was still between them and _oh_.

"Darren…"

"Chris," Darren meets Chris' eyes in the mirror, cheeks flushed and bottom lip redder from where he was obviously biting it, "please tell me you can see how beautiful you are… please tell me you see what I see."

There's a pleading tone in Darren's voice, a question that Chris doesn't know how to answer really, because he's not sure what Darren is really asking. He brings his hands on top of Darren's and slides his fingers through the shaking ones, pulling them a little away from where they were holding on to his hips. He quickly kicks off his shoes and the sweats to prevent accidents.

"Darren, what…" he turns from the mirror and around to face his friend.

When their eyes meet without the imaginary distance created by the mirror, Chris freezes at the intensity of Darren's look. Everything he thought he was just imagining earlier is right there, the lust, the want and a shade of hesitation that he watches disappear when he involuntarily runs his tongue over his bottom lip.

"Chris," Darren growls, "fuck, Christopher."

And then their lips are brushing against each other, stopping Chris' breathing for a moment. It only takes one swipe of Darren's tongue over Chris' lip to make Chris fall into the kiss, so familiar from all the on-set takes and off-set rehearsals, but so different at the same time. Darren's hands are on Chris' hips, pulling him closer and closer while Chris' arms wrap automatically around Darren's shoulders, fingers immediately finding their way into the curls just above Darren's neck.

"I…" Darren tries to speak when they pull their mouths away, both out of breath, "I'm… not sorry?"

It comes out as a question and makes Chris smile softly.

"I'm not sorry either," he responds, "but … Darren, what are you…"

"I think," Darren scrunches his forehead, "I think I didn't plan this too well."

"Plan what exactly?"

"I was supposed to show _you_ that you're not _ugly_ ," Darren sighs, "but I guess… I guess I managed to let myself wander places…"

"I'll say," Chris chuckles, "but is this… now?"

Darren shakes his head, partly to clear it, but partly in response to Chris' question.

"No, I've… I've seen it for a while, but," he gulps, "but you didn't ever look at me that way, except as Kurt, so I never let myself go there."

"Darren," Chris pushes Darren's chin up from where it dropped with the confession, "I only didn't because of … well, everything."

Darren nods in understanding, the list of reasons why they shouldn't be in this situation longer than either of them wants to think about. There's the co-stars thing, the character bleed, the stupid label Darren has landed himself with early on. But none of it matters when he looks into Chris' eyes and sees everything he feels.

"After all this," Darren mumbles, "I… fuck, I just… I want you."

"You have me, Dare," Chris says quietly, with a shaky voice, "you know you do."

"No," Darren's curls blur as he shakes his head, "No, I mean that I _want_ you. I want to touch you, kiss you, and worship you the way you should be."

"Darren," Chris tries to protest but Darren cuts him off with a kiss, "no, none of that. You _are_ beautiful and oh damn you break my heart when you don't see it. You make me lose my mind in the best way possible. You take my breath away and damn…" Darren gulps loudly, "you turn me on so fucking much I don't know how I'm not throwing you on the bed yet."

"Fuck, Darren," Chris curses with a groan, "don't say that to me."

"Why?"

Darren's eyes have an edge of innocence in them, though Chris knows there's nothing pure in either of their minds now.

"Because," Chris takes a deep breath, "because I spent two years trying to _not_ let my mind wander to those places. Because I trained myself to not look at you that way for reasons that should be obvious. Because you tell me these things and I want to let you, but…"

Chris pauses and Darren can feel the fear that's running through Chris now, the wall that is a defence mechanism and has been for so long.

"Chris," Darren whispers as Chris' eyes drop down, "Christopher, look at me," he pleads, "this isn't… I don’t want... damn, I don't know how to say this."

"Look," Chris finds his voice again, "I don't want to… I don't want us to make a mistake, that's all."

"You," Darren gulps, then brings his hand to Chris' cheek, "you would _never_ be a mistake for me. That's not possible. And I know that I can't go back from this," he motions between them, "I can't _not_ want you anymore."

He stretches to bring his lips to Chris' again, moving slowly, gently against them.

"I want everything," he mumbles between soft kisses, "I want _you_ , in every way you can think of."

"Darren," Chris moans into Darren's mouth and feels the tongue on his lips.

"Please, let me," Darren breathes out, "please let me show you."

Chris nods when Darren pulls away, both of them breathless and flushed, frozen for a second. Then the response registers with Darren and he shifts closer for a kiss, this time holding back less, pouring all his want into it. Chris lets his hands wrap back around Darren's shoulders, pulling him closer and moments later tugging on Darren's T-shirt.

"You're a little overdressed," he grins at Darren when they come up for air.

Darren, without a moment's hesitation, grabs the bottom of his T-shirt, pulls it over his head and tosses it out of the way, quickly followed by his jeans. Chris follows his movements from the distance of the one step he took away to let Darren undress and his eyes widen. Darren notices the surprise and shrugs.

"Told you," he smirks, "You turn me on, Colfer, deal with it."

"Oh, I can do that," Chris smiles with a confidence he didn't think he had in him.

With that, he manoeuvres Darren towards the bed and gently pushes him until he's sitting down on the edge. He drops to his knees in front of Darren and spreads his knees so he can fit between. One more look up at Darren confirms that he doesn't need to expect protests and Chris brings his mouth down to Darren's thighs to joins his hands. He traces lines from Darren's knees to his hips with his fingers and follows them with his lips. When he reaches the bottom edge of the boxers that are the last thing in his way, Darren brings his hands to Chris' face and stops him.

"Much as, _fuck_ ," he hisses when Chris runs his fingers over the underside of his thigh, "much as I would _love_ for you to do this, I believe I was the one who was supposed to be worshipping _you_."

Chris lets himself be pulled up on the bed and lies down, stretching across the sheets. Darren crawls on top of him immediately and his lips find the one spot on Chris' neck that his fingers found earlier.

"Not fair, Chris," he mutters into Chris' skin, "you're not only beautiful, you're also delicious," Darren licks a line from the bottom of Chris' neck to the spot just below the earlobe.

Chris can't help but arch his back and press against Darren, their hips meeting as Darren lets his crotch drop down. They both moan as their cocks, still covered with the flimsy fabric, rub against each other. Darren shifts a little, rests on Chris' side and lets his hand caress the pale skin from Chris' shoulders, across his chest, down to the waist. Darren quirks an eyebrow up at Chris as his fingers nudge against the boxer briefs' elastic and pushes down when he sees the affirmative nod. Chris wriggles out of the underwear and feels his cheeks heat up when Darren's eyes scan across his body, laid out in the not so dim light of the room.

"Hot," he hears Darren breathe into his ear and even that goes straight down to his cock.

Then Darren's hand is on Chris' hip and with a sliding motion moves down and then up Chris' thigh until his fingers wrap around the now fully hard and aching cock. Chris realizes that Darren must have licked his hand just before he reached down because he feels the slickness and wetness on him and _damn_ he's a little disappointed that he missed that visual.

But then he forgets everything because Darren flicks his thumb over the tip of the cock and strokes it firmly, with determination that Chris would laugh at if it wasn't for the oncoming rush he feels all over his body.

"So fucking gorgeous," Darren growls, "like this, lost to the world," Chris feels Darren's hips rub against his side and feels the hardness through Darren's boxers, "You're amazing, even more now than normally."

Darren keeps the rhythm of his strokes, matches it with the speed he's rutting against Chris with his own cock and continues whispering into Chris' ear. It's not long before Chris can feel his control slipping and he wants to last longer but knows he won't be able to.

"Let go, Chris," Darren whispers, "let me see you. I want to see you come all over my hand, I want to see your face, please," his hips stutter out of rhythm and Chris knows Darren can feel the tension in his cock, "please let me do this for you. Let go. Come for me, Chris."

With a last stroke and flick across the tip of his cock, Chris can't hold back anymore, his eyes flicker closed, head falls back onto the pillow and he comes with a deep moan. Somewhere from beyond the fog of his orgasm, he feels Darren's cock against his side and the wetness that follows that last jerk into Chris' skin. Darren continues stroking Chris until he comes down from his high and pushes Darren's hand out of the way, still gasping for air.

Their eyes meet and Chris finds a mixture of joy, wonder and a little hesitation.

"So," Darren starts before Chris can say anything, "was that… was that OK?"

Chris only just stops himself from laughing because he notices Darren's genuine insecurity.

"More than OK, Dare," he whispers and turns closer for a soft kiss, "but we should… I should…"

"Shower?" Darren offers, "I mean, I can go use the other one…"

Chris pulls himself out of Darren's arms and off the bed, reaching his hand out.

"I think we're beyond embarrassment now, aren't we?" he smiles and helps Darren off the bed.

"So… next time…" Darren stops before they walk in the bathroom and presses himself against Chris for a kiss.

"What are you, eighteen, Darren?" Chris quips when he feels Darren already stirring against his crotch, "let's clean up first, OK?"

With that, he pulls Darren through the door, smiling a little mischievously.


End file.
